Nick Clegg has refused to apologise for his disgraced former colleague Chris Huhne, describing his trial over a speeding fine as ‘a private matter that is being played out in public’.

Huhne was forced to resign as MP for Eastleigh after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice and is awaiting sentence.

The case threatened to overshadow the Liberal Democrat leader’s first day on the by-election campaign trail in the Hampshire constituency yesterday.

Firm stance: Nick Clegg, pictured on a visit to Eastleigh College in Hampshire yesterday (left), refused to apologise for his former Lib Dem colleague Chris Huhne, right

On a visit to Eastleigh College, when asked to apologise to the public for Huhne’s actions, Mr Clegg said: ‘Chris Huhne needs to speak for himself. I don’t think anyone would think it was anyone’s responsibility other than Chris Huhne’s.’

Mr Clegg also signalled to journalists that his former leadership rival had not apologised to him, saying: ‘I have not spoken to Chris Huhne since the Sunday before he resigned, when he informed me he was he was pleading guilty.’

Danny Alexander, the Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury, was more forthcoming.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share

He said: ‘The fact that you’re an MP, or a government minister, or a senior broadcaster, or a banker or whatever – those things are not things that should mean that somehow you can get away with the law not applying to you as it does to everybody else.’

While Eric Pickles, the Tory Communities Secretary, who was also in Eastleigh campaigning, said he felt ‘personally let down’ by Huhne, both sides have pledged to fight a clean campaign.

But signs of tension are already showing. A photo of Lib Dem candidate and local councillor Mike Thornton asleep at a council meeting in 2011 has been gleefully circulated by his opponents.

Defiant: Nick Clegg talks to student James Eley, 18 from Shirley about what he is learning at Eastleigh College

They have questioned whether the low-key, 60-year-old councillor is a match for the Tory candidate, Maria Hutchings, who has been described as her party’s answer to Sarah Palin.

Diane James, a Waverley borough councillor in Surrey and healthcare expert, is standing for Ukip, but Labour has yet to announce its candidate.